Already the young Slovak superstar has shown an uncanny ability to win a wide variety of races in a wide variety fashions, just like Merckx. This year, Sagan hopes to add Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, and another Tour de France green jersey, all achievements Merckx reached, to his already bulging resume. And down the road, Sagan just might win the Tour de France outright, as Merckx did on five occasions.

While this may sound like overblown hyperbole in an age of rider specialization, Sagan’s Cannondale Pro Cycling teammates insist it’s unwise to bet against the rider nicknamed “Terminator.”

“I have never seen a rider like him,” says Italian Ivan Basso, himself a two-time Grand Tour winner. “I don’t think anyone has. He is the first-of-a-kind rider. You can expect everything because he can win what he wants. Anything. If he wins the Tour de France someday, it will not be a surprise to me. Watch out.”

Indeed, the 22-year-old Sagan is a genetic freak the likes of which the sport has not seen in decades, if ever. During Sagan’s first three years in the pro ranks, he’s outsprinted sprinters, out-climbed climbers, and excelled at just about everything in between. Career highlights include stage wins at the Tours of California, Romandie, Suisse, and Oman, plus Grand Tour stage victories in Spain and France.

Last year was his true breakout campaign, though. Sagan racked up 16 wins (second only to sprint specialist Andre Greipel’s 19). That total included five stages at the Tour of California, four more at the Tour de Suisse, and three at the Tour de France, which also netted him his first green points jersey.

Perhaps more impressive, though, was Sagan’s run of spring Classic top fives: second at Gent-Wevelgem, third at the Amstel Gold Race, fourth at Milan-San Remo, and fifth at the Tour of Flanders. As any sage cycling fan knows, these are contrasting races that are typically contested by different types of riders. Yet there was Sagan racing at the front, again and again and again.

“He is a truly phenomenal talent,” says teammate Ted King, the lone American on the Cannondale team. “And it transcends his physiological capabilities. It’s awesome to watch him on a bike. He can dive out of corners better than anyone because his bike-handling skills are better than anyone in the peloton. He can avoid crashes better than anybody. Honestly, he is hands-down one of the best in the peloton.”

Sagan’s talent is so broad and diverse that he has even won a mountain bike world title (as a junior in 2008) and a cyclocross world’s silver medal (as a junior that same year). He can also ride no-handed wheelies—while climbing—and bounce around on his road bike like a champion trials rider, skills he regularly demonstrated during Cannondale’s splashy team launch event in Southern California in mid-January.

The theme for that weekend was distinctly Hollywood. The team was officially unveiled during a gala event on the grounds of Paramount Studios. Tuxedo-clad riders arrived together in a white stretch Hummer limousine, marched down a faux red carpet with cameras flashing away, then partied on a New York City-themed movie set after being introduced on the stage of an oversized movie theater.

Sagan was the star of the show throughout, preening for the cameras during his walk in, riding wheelies inside the theater, and even making an appearance as Forrest Gump in a send-up of the famed Tom Hanks movie. Yes, life is like a box of chocolates, and with Peter Sagan you never know what you are going to get.

Sagan’s 2013 kicked off in January at Argentina’s Tour of San Luis. Then he heads to the Middle East for the Tour of Oman. But the season’s real objectives come later in the spring.

“I go to Milan-San Remo and then the Tour of Flanders,” says Sagan, whose English has improved markedly since last summer. “I saw last year that I can do well at these races. I was on the front but I had some bad luck. From that result you could say that I don’t need to learn too much more. But all life is for learning, so you must take the experiences and move ahead. I think this is why I don’t win a big Classic yet. I am good but I don’t have the experience yet. But I was almost there last year, so maybe now I have the right experience and this year I will come out on the top.”

After Flanders, Sagan will take a short break, then reset for the Amstel Gold race. If, along with Milan-San Remo, he somehow manages to win all three of these spring Classics in the same year, it would be a pro cycling first.

“In the world we have lots of champions,” says Basso. “Then you have the real legends. Peter can be one of the real legends.”

To affirm that legendary status, Sagan will have to continue to perform at the Tour de France. This year, he says he’ll once again pursue the green jersey. “Stage victories are nice, but going on the podium in Paris is the best I think,” he says. “I have seen the riders with the collections of yellow jerseys. I would like to have my own collection of green jerseys.”

And what about a few yellow ones? “Right now I am not thinking about five years from now,” says Sagan. “But maybe it is possible.”